On an island nearly submerged by the rushing Rivière des Prairies, sand is gold, said Île Mercier resident Jean Ouellette.

With half of his neighbours already evacuated, Ouellette, who has lived on the island for five years, said he was determined to take a stand against the rising water.

“If we I get enough sandbags, then I have a good chance to save my home,” said Ouellette, sitting on the wall of sandbags he built in front of his house. “Either way we have to work. We work now, or (if we evacuate) we work afterwards, and that will be a lot more work.”

The flooding continues for Ãle Mercier residents like Robert Kelly on Friday, May 5, 2017. Another two feet and Kelly will have to abandon his home.Dave Sidaway /
Montreal Gazette

Ouellette was one of the 20 holdouts, from the island of 45 households, that defied a voluntary evacuation order issued by the city Wednesday. Those who stayed behind were made to sign a waiver explaining they understood the risks.

Ouellette had 300 bags holding the water back from entering the main floor of his house, with the water beside the bags a foot deep. His basement was being pumped out with two sump pumps, but was mostly dry. He was hoping to get more sandbags to raise the barrier by a few more inches.

“If this breaks (or if the water rises over the bags), then my house will fill up in a number of minutes,” he said. “I would hate to lose my house because I missed out on a few sandbags.”

A residents crosses the flooded bridge to the Ile-Mercier district of Ile-Bizard on Friday, May 5, 2017.Ryan Remiorz /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

The city ordered the bridge — the island’s lone road access — closed to cars Friday morning, because the water had caused it to deteriorate. The bridge could only be crossed on foot, a treacherous journey with some portions waist deep with cold rushing water. Among those who elected to stay, one resident got a group of friends to build a makeshift barge using an old dock and a 25-horsepower motor, so he could bring more sandbags from the mainland over to his house.

Île Mercier appeared to be hit among worst-hit parts of Montreal, making up about a third of the 65 households that had been evacuated by Friday afternoon, according to the Montreal Fire Department.

While some on the island were working to secure their homes with sandbags, it was business as usual for Claude Larocque, whose house was on significantly higher ground, with water just creeping up to his driveway. With river levels expected to rise, Larocque was considering whether he should try to get sandbags.

“My basement is dry, and my pump is working, so everything is fine so far,” Larocque said. “I want to stay to make sure the pump continues to work. I also have a backup pump just in case.”

Larocque got out of his house, put on hip waders and walked across the bridge on Friday morning to go to work. He returned later in the morning to find the water levels had risen by about a foot.

“I’m starting to worry,” said, Larocque, who has lived on the island since 1989.

The fire department was urging people to give up the fight.

“I understand that people want to save their houses, but we are concerned about people’s safety, and at a certain point it will become too late, and we’ll have to react, instead of being proactive,” said Martin Guilbeault, a chief of operations for the Montreal Fire Department. “Île Mercier is particularly problematic because of the difficulty accessing it. We can only access it by boat. That’s why we’re telling people to obey the order.”

Firefighters were on the scene with two motorboats: one small inflatable zodiac boat, and a longer metallic boat that could fit a stretcher. They visited residents to see if they needed anything. About 11 a.m., an elderly man called 911 saying he was feeling unwell. Both he and his wife were taken from their home by boat. The man was then transported by ambulance to a hospital.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said after getting experts to do a cursory evaluation on Friday, the city was concerned about the state of the bridge to the island, which has been covered in water since Tuesday night. If it washes out, the city will have no choice but to force people from their homes, he said.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre walks through the flooded streets of the Ile-Mercier district of Ile-Bizard, Que., on Friday, May 5, 2017. Forecasts are calling for several more days of rain.Ryan Remiorz /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

“The bridge is disintegrating,” Coderre told a crowd of reporters gathered near the island. “At a certain point, we are going to have to take a decision to protect people from themselves.”

Coderre reacted to residents’ criticism that the city didn’t bring enough sandbags to the island to help them protect their homes, saying the city is in emergency mode at this point, and the priority is to help out those who are flooded.

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